Human Development Index

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical composite index of <a href="/facts/Life_expectancy/uPc8bWWW">life expectancy</a>, <a href="/facts/Education_Index/yu8eru6L">education</a> (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the <a href="/facts/Education_system/WIwsQKF9">education system</a>), and <a href="/facts/Per_capita_income/cJJwwhRY">per capita income</a> indicators, which is used to rank countries into four tiers of <a href="/facts/Human_development_(humanity)/NBHl1x00">human development</a>. A country scores a higher level of HDI when the <a href="/facts/Life_expectancy_at_birth/uPc8bWWW">lifespan</a> is higher, the <a href="/facts/Education/WIwsQKF9">education</a> level is higher, and the gross national income <a href="/facts/GNI_(PPP)_per_capita/4w4csQEk">GNI (PPP) per capita</a> is higher. It was developed by Pakistani economist <a href="/facts/Mahbub_ul-Haq/xFSMRXxd">Mahbub ul-Haq</a> and was further used to measure a country's development by the <a href="/facts/United_Nations_Development_Programme/y3gpXUHD">United Nations Development Programme</a> (UNDP)'s Human Development Report Office.
The 2010 <a href="/facts/Human_Development_Report/XqjF6jjb">Human Development Report</a> introduced an <a href="/facts/List_of_countries_by_inequality-adjusted_Human_Development_Index/qYDmbek3">inequality-adjusted Human Development Index</a> (IHDI). While the simple HDI remains useful, it stated that "the IHDI is the actual level of human development (accounting for this <a href="/facts/Social_inequality/mSlMBETI">inequality</a>), while the HDI can be viewed as an index of 'potential' human development (or the maximum level of HDI) that could be achieved if there was no inequality."
The index is based on the human development approach, developed by Mahbub ul-Haq, anchored in <a href="/facts/Amartya_Sen/R9zxJTMs">Amartya Sen</a>'s work on human capabilities, and often framed in terms of whether people are able to "be" and "do" desirable things in life. Examples include — being: well-fed, sheltered, and healthy; doing: work, education, voting, participating in community life. The freedom of choice is considered central — someone choosing to be hungry (e.g. when <a href="/facts/Fasting_in_religion/FPuTQj5J">fasting for religious reasons</a>) is considered different from someone who is hungry because they cannot afford to buy food, or because the country is going through a <a href="/facts/Famine/EUEEuh4h">famine</a>.
The index does not take into account several factors, such as the <a href="/facts/List_of_countries_by_wealth_per_adult/d5WcLy87">net wealth per capita</a> or the relative <a href="/facts/Quality_(business)/V3IzcDc3">quality of goods</a> in a country. This situation tends to lower the ranking of some of the most <a href="/facts/Developed_countries/sqwTSDHm">developed countries</a>, such as the <a href="/facts/G7/P5xVoq5y">G7</a> members and others.

Human Development Index open-in-new

Human Development Index